Battle of Makin

The Battle of Makin occurred from 20 to 23 November 1943 when the US 27th Infantry Division landed on the Japanese island base of Makin in the Gilbert Islands during World War II. 6,470 US Army troops faced a garrison of only 400 Imperial Japanese Army troops, but the Japanese fought hard; US 165th Infantry Regiment commander Col. Gardiner Conroy was killed by a Japanese sniper on the first afternoon of the battle. All but five Japanese soldiers were killed on Makin. The battle saw the US suffer higher naval casualties than land casualties, with 644 men dying when the aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) was torpedoed by an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine, 43 dying on the battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41), and 10 men being killed as aviators.